I think I am turning into a twitcher......

to be pedantic you're turning into a birder not a twitcher, a twitcher is someone who drives across the country to see rare birds. I wish I could find some thing to be interested in so keep at it

Enjoy your birding, alima. It can be great fun. To be a twitcher you have to tear about the country for sightings of particular species rather than enjoying what is around your home

To be a twitcher you also have to make a point of listing the rare birds you have seen very publicly, so that all other twitchers can see that you have seen more than they have.

As I am on GN I am listening to the starlings, sparrows and various others all squabbling over the food I put out. Goodness knows why as there is plenty for all!

We were driving through the Scottish Borders the other day and came upon one of those huge groups of starlings; it was [as Bill Oddie pointed out a few years back] the most amazing sight. Video'd some of it but don't know how to put it onto the computer. Went back a couple of night later; the starlings were getting ready to roost but were only in small numbers; we were told that there was a falcon in the area and it had spooked them. Alas, Alima I think the computer has taken up the time that I should use more constructively, although it has made me realise how amazing digital cameras are, having been given one years ago by my son and never knowing how/why to use it. And upcycling furniture, thanks to the chalk paints now on the market.

We used to do a lot of bird watching - visiting reserves and so on. I was never a twitcher but kept a 'life list'. It's not something we do with any particular dedication now, though we never go for a walk without binoculars. If you're going to get a bird book buy one you can take out and about with you. There are lots about. You'll soon learn to recognise birdsong too, and you'll know what's about before you see it! My great joy now is fly fishing which i came to late in life and wish i had discovered years earlier.

Oh Alima! I have to tell you, when I read the subject line I thought you meant a curtain twitcher and had started spying on your neighbours. Glad to hear it's bird watching

There's that as well.......

I watch the neighbours from the front windows and birds from the back ones!!

Birdsong would be good to recognise Greyduster. I heard a quite distinctive one this morning ,it would be good to know what it was. Somewhere near us someone keeps ducks and I love the sound of them, got those sussed. Chickens too, they always sound so hacked off.

The RSPB has an online bird identifier with which you get a snatch of audio. If you have a listen, start with the common garden birds - blackbirds, robins, chaffinch and other finches, various tits - surprising how quickly you get to know them.

Thank you, I will have a look.